FRUSTRATED travellers have received more than £350,000 in compensation for blunders by UK passport offices over the past three years, it was revealed today.

Pay-outs for those who suffer miseries such as missing dream holidays due to errors have risen by 63% during the same period, according to official figures.

The cost of mistakes at the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) - which is responsible for implementing the Government's flagship ID Card scheme - was disclosed to the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figures will heighten concerns about the system following an admission last month that at least two passports were being lost in the post every day, despite applicants being charged extra for "secure delivery".

The IPS paid out a total of £128,682 to 3,392 successful claimants in the 2005-6 financial year - compared to £78,703 to 2,290 two years earlier.

Compensation levels were even higher in 2004-5, with 3,272 claimants sharing £144,895.

A spokesman for the IPS

insisted successful claims had accounted for only 0.05% of applications processed in 2005-6.